Belgian identical twins in unique mercy killing

Reposting Bruno Waterfield’s post “Euthanasia twins had ‘nothing to live for” published in The Telegraph on 14th Jan 2013.

The two deaf twins killed by legal euthanasia in Belgium were frightened of losing their independence in an institution and had "nothing to live for".

Photo: Gazet Van Antwerpen

The two men, both aged 45, named as Marc and Eddy Verbessem, from the village of Putte, near the city of Mechelen, were both born deaf and asked for a mercy killing after finding that they would also soon go blind.

Dirk Verbessem, 46, explained that his younger brothers had lived together for all their adult lives and could not communicate with the outside world.

"Their great fear was that they would no longer be able to see each other. That was for my brothers unbearable," he said.

The deaf twin brothers had spent their entire lives together, sharing a flat while both working as cobblers and could only communicate with special sign language understood by each other and their immediate family.

"They lived together, did their own cooking and cleaning. You could eat off the floor. Blindness would have made them completely dependent. They did not want to be in an institution," said Mr Verbessem.

"I sometimes think, if they had their own wives and children, perhaps they would have had something to live for."

The brother and his parents, Mary and Remy, tried to stop the twins but were eventually persuaded by them that their lives should be ended under Belgium's euthanasia laws.

After enlisting the support of their local doctor, it took the twins almost two years to find a medical institution to administer a lethal injection after being turned down by their local hospital.

Four weeks ago, dressed in new shoes and suits, Marc and Eddy bid farewell to their parents and brother at Brussels University Hospital in Jette.

"I tried to talk them out of it even at the last moment," said their brother. "Together with my parents, I said goodbye. Marc and Eddy waved again at us. 'Up in the sky,' they said. 'Up in the sky,' we replied. And then it was over."

David Dufour, their local doctor, told The Daily Telegraph that as well as congenital deafness and approaching blindness caused by a genetically caused form of glaucoma, the twins had other severe medical problems.

"All that together made life unbearable. I have been very surprised but there is so much interest and debate about this," he said.

Dr Dufour said that the Verbessem family had overcome their opposition to the idea of euthanasia to help the twins make their case to doctors. "I have boundless respect for their parents and brother," he said. "Their family gave them the best, but hardest gift."

Under Belgian law euthanasia is allowed if a patient is able to make their wishes clear and a doctor judges that they are suffering unbearable pain.

The Verbessem case is unusual because neither of the men was terminally ill nor suffering physical pain.

Professor Wim Distelmans, the doctor that took the decision to euthanise the twins, defended his decision.

"It's the first time in the world that a 'double euthanasia' has been performed on brothers," he said. "There was certainly unbearable psychological suffering for them. Though there is of course it always possible to stretch the interpretation of that. One doctor will evaluate differently than the other."

Last month, Belgium's government announced plans to amend the law to allow the euthanasia of children and Alzheimer's sufferers. If passed, the new law will allow euthanasia to be "extended to minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate".

Chris Gastmans, professor of medical ethics at the Catholic University of Leuven, expressed fear over the wider implications for the welfare of disabled people after the assisted suicide.

"In a society as wealthy as ours, we must find another, caring way to deal with human frailty," he said.

Barfi: Commitment Despite Challenges!

Abha Khetarpal, President Cross the Hurdles and member, Enabling Unit, University College of Medical Sciences reviews the movie Barfi:

No wonder Barfi is all set to be sent as India’s official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination for the 85th Academy Awards in February 2013.  Anurag Basu, the director, deserves much applause for making such a sensitive movie.

Though a romantic comedy, the movie deals with all the shades of human psychology and behavior. The plot basically revolves around the story of a man, the protagonist, Barfi, who is deaf and mute by birth. He is shown to be involved with two females at different points of time in his life. Relationship with both the girls, gives him two different perspectives of life.

The first one Shruti Ghosh/Sengupta, is shown to be amused by the antics of Barfi, amazed by the way how he copes with his challenges playfully and ultimately falls for him because of his out and out romantic nature. Like any other teenage girl she is infatuated by his endearing and happy-go-lucky nature.  She is stunned by the way he lives his life to the fullest and even despite of his disabilities he is able to take care of his old father. But this girl herself plays mute when she has to bow down to the pressures of her mother who thinks her daughter’s life would be destroyed by marrying a ‘’disabled man’’. The girl Shruti is shown to be submissive, doubtful and prone to fall for superficial abilities of a Bengali babu, whom she marries. She succumbs to the lures of the so called physical and monetary capabilities of another man. This man has a perfect body but has a disability of lack of emotions!

Though she likes Barfi, she could not gather guts to open her mouth and say even a word. Barfi is shown to be deaf, but this girl, with her actions, proves that she is nothing less than ‘’a dumb’’ human being. She is shown to have a greater disability of character when she says, ‘’Sach puchho to mujhe Jhilmil ke kho jaane ka dukh nahi tha, balki khushi thi ki ab Barfi mera hai’’ (She was not sad that Jhilmil was lost but rather happy that now she would be able to possess Barfi). She is shown to be envious when she says, “Barfi adhura tha, lekin uska pyaar poora tha’’. Now she, after having a nightmarish marriage with her chosen one who is an abled bodied man, realizes that how much able Barfi was and how incomplete her ‘’normal’’ man was! But still she could not develop that sensitivity to understand how much pain she has inflictedon him. When she meets him in Kolkata after six years, she could not even utter a single word. While Barfi is shown to have no complains and grudges against her. He is not at all bitter.

Aaah! The so called ‘’abled’’ world, how selfish you can become!  How easy it is for you to show your cocked up ‘’compulsions’’.

Relationship is a matter of convenience for the this normal group of people. This is skilfully shown by portrayal of the character of Shruti and through the characters of Jhilmil’s parents. They want their daughter because they want money left to her by her grandfather. Otherwise the treatment given to this autistic girl by her own parents is emotionally shocking. The parents are shown to be ashamed of the disability of their daughter. They themselves are not ready to accept. Nor do they believe in including the girl in social gatherings taking place in their own home. And this is not a fictitious revelation. This happens all the time around us. Anurag has just shown courage to bring out such heinous behavioral practices. The society too is shown insensitive which all the more disables a person. The people in the party do not hesitate to laugh at a girl who is enjoying the music, a girl who so innocent, a girl who does not even know the ways of this selfish and cruel world.  By making fun of this autistic girl, Jhilmil, they prove that it is the society that does not let people come out of the stigma of disability. And she shows her anger by yelling at them and crying out, “Chup karo’’( stop laughing).

The so called civilized and sophisticated group of people are shown to be nothing less than beastly creatures.

And the best part happens to be the second half of the movie. I must say it is has the best dialogues ever written, best dialogue delivery ever heard and the best music ever listened to! You must be wondering what I am talking about!

The conversations between the mute Barfi and autistic Jhilmil do not need any language nor are dependent on the ear catching love phrases. They both talk heart to heart.  Their expressions have greater verbosity. The love and relationship which they stand for echoes far away with higher decibels than we human beings can hear. They understand each other by looking into each other’s eyes. Love has no boundaries, no disability, no sham, no manipulations, no strategies…Its purest forms dwell in the hearts of those who believe in it. Barfi has his own ‘’trust test’’. He cuts the branch of the tree. First he stands with his friend under it. Then he stands with Shruti under it who gets scared being hit by it without trusting his love and affection for it. And when he stands with Jhilmil under it, Jhilmil just holds his shirts and  shows her trust. She knows she is safe with him. True love trusts and protects. It is not scared of the burdens, responsibilities and hardships coming its way. True love does not need ceremonies and rituals. When Shruti asks Barfi if they had exchanged rings, he tells her in sign language that when they had exchanged hearts, exchanging rings does not matter!

Barfi and Jhilmil, lived together. They were shown to be with each other till their old age caring and sharing all through their lives. Together they symbolize Commitment Despite Challenges!  They have the biggest ability in them and that is they are able to find happiness in togetherness.

A great movie, great performances by the actors and great music, Barfi deals with the complex mazes, darkest tunnels and brightest spots of human psyche!

Source: Mindful Cogitations (think differently)